leaving león behind

for some time i have not been so descriptive of the path i have taken geographically.

león says goodbye with its ugly side. kilometer after kilometer along busy roads, hot and dry, dusty, loud. here, it is a real effort to see beauty. maybe by looking inside?

then there is a highlight - hospital de órbigo, a long, very long roman bridge that leads across the river and into town. a nice town, too! thereafter it gets a bit hilly, still dusty and dry. about four kilometers before one reaches astorga, there is this little refuge - el jardín del alma. calming for ones soul, and the body too.

astorga is a smaller town, but still with an impressive cathedral, a gaudi palace, home of one of the largest dióceses in entire spain. worth a visit. plus a nice spa if and when you need it.

after astorga, leaving the extensive, flat plains of the Castilian meseta behind into the montes de león, through the maragatería region, the climb is initially gentle and progressive until you reach rabanal del camino. then the incline becomes much sharper as the route climbs up to the village of foncebadón.

from foncebadón moderate slopes lead up to the cruz de ferro, where pilgrims either literally or metaphorically leave a stone behind, something that has been weighing them down. i left something here a few years ago. i somehow still carry some of the weight.

after the peak, pilgrims’ knees are more or less guaranteed to hurt. there is this loooooong, severe, and punishing descent down into ponferrada.

another small town, but a lot bigger than astorga. plus an impressive castillo de los templarios, a nice old town on both sides of the river sil.

here starts the wine region of el bierzo. if you have a chance to drink a wine from here, do it. not that i am a big expert - based on currently one glass every sunday.

the bierzo is this large basin with a protected micro-climate and very good conditions for wine. surrounded by the montes de león, the cantabrian mountains to the north, towards asturias and the mountain ranges in the west towards galicia, it is protected against strong winds. still impressive stormy skies though!